The Pilot Project Program provides a mechanism by which the Woods Hole COHH can recruit new members, explore new areas of research, expand its technical capabilities, and enhance the collaborative and interdisciplinary interactions among its scientists. The specific objectives of the Pilot Project Program are 1) to assess the feasibility of new areas of study, especially those that are not currently represented in our Research Project base, 2) to support the collection of preliminary data that can be used to generate full proposals to NSF, NIH, or other agencies, 3) to recruit scientists not currently involved in research on oceans and human health, but who may have expertise in one of these areas, to become participating members of the center and interact with other center investigators, 4) to stimulate collaborative and interdisciplinary research within the center, 5) to foster the application of new technologies and experimental approaches to questions concerning the impact of oceanic processes on public health, 6) to ensure the ability of the center to respond rapidly to new scientific information and emerging challenges in this field, and 7) to contribute to the training of future researchers in the field of Oceans and Human Health through enhancement of graduate and postdoctoral training opportunities. The Pilot Project Program will include an annual call for proposals, distributed to all faculty and research scientists from WHOI, MBL, and MIT. A pre- proposal requirement plus a rigorous, two-phase review process involving members of the Internal and External Advisory Committees will ensure the scientific quality of the projects. Results from funded Pilot Projects will be reported and disseminated in a variety of ways, including peer-reviewed publication and posting on the center web